Cold War: Mao, Collectivization, and Revolution

• Study notes from Cold War flashcards

Mao Zedong

• Leader of the People's Republic of China (1893-1976).
• Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were policies enacted by him.

Collectivization

• Merging small farms into large, collectively-owned farms or cooperatives.
• Aims to increase agricultural productivity and efficiency.
• Primarily associated with the Soviet Union and China.

Great Leap Forward

• China's second five-year plan under Mao Zedong.
• Intended to industrialize and collectivize China's economy to create a socialist society.
• Focused on transforming agriculture.
• Failed, resulting in over 20 million deaths between 1958 and 1960 due to starvation.

Cultural Revolution

• Mao Zedong initiated this campaign in China,
• Designed to remove his opponents from the Communist Party.
• Designed to instill revolutionary values in the younger generation.

Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

• Post-WWII meetings attended by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin.
• Discussed the division of Germany into four zones and trials for war criminals.
• Yalta occurred in February 1945 during WWII, planning the division of Germany after Allied victory.
• Potsdam happened in July 1945 after Herbert Hoover replaced FDR, officially dividing Germany into French, British, American, and Soviet zones.

Marshall Plan

• A United States plan to revive war-torn economies in Europe.
• Offered $13 billion in aid to Western and Southern Europe.

Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech

• Delivered in March 1946.
• Asserted the incompatibility of communism and capitalism.
• Declared that an "iron curtain" has descended across Europe.

Berlin Blockade & Airlift

• The Soviet Union blockaded Berlin in 1948 to cut off Allied forces.
• The United States responded by airlifting supplies into Berlin.

Red Scare

• Fear that communists were attempting to destroy the American way of life.

Mutually Assured Destruction

• (MAD) principle where a nuclear attack by either the US or USSR would be met with an equivalent response.

Containment

• A U.S. foreign policy implemented by President Harry Truman in the late 1940s.
• Aimed to prevent the spread of communism.
• Involved creating alliances and supporting weak countries against Soviet advances.

Anti-Ballistic Missiles

• Missiles designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles from hostile countries.

Domino Theory

• If one nation falls under Communist control, neighboring nations will likely follow.

Kim Il Sung

• Communist leader of North Korea.
• Initiated the Korean War with an attack on South Korea in 1950.
• Remained in power until 1994.

Syngman Rhee

• Became the president of South Korea after World War II.
• Led South Korea during the Korean War.

38th & 17th Parallels

• The Korean War reached a stalemate at the 38th parallel, leading the US and Soviets to seek a peace settlement.
• Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel.

Demilitarized Zone

• An area where military forces, operations, and installations are prohibited.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• Failed invasion of Cuba in 1961.
• Involved 1,200 Cuban exiles, backed by the United States, landing at the Bay of Pigs.
• Orchestrated by the CIA.

Fidel Castro

• Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959.
• Established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Arose in 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• A Soviet attempt to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba.

John F. Kennedy

• President during the Cold War, especially the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Addressed the public on television about the crisis and facilitated the removal of Soviet missiles.
• His term included the building of the Berlin Wall, the space race, and early events of the Vietnam War.

Nikita Khrushchev

• Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Denounced Stalin and allowed criticism of his regime within Russia.

Berlin Wall

• Constructed in 1961 around West Berlin, Germany.
• Purpose was to prevent East German citizens from crossing to the West.
• Its demolition in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War.
• Served as both a barrier to escape and a symbol of repression.

Ho Chi Minh

• Vietnamese communist statesman and leader.
• Fought against the Japanese in World War II, then against the French (until 1954) and South Vietnam (until 1975).

Dien Bien Phu

• Decisive battle in 1954 between the French and the Vietnamese.
• Resulted in the French withdrawal from Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem

• President of South Vietnam.
• Opposed communism, Roman Catholic.
• Government was considered corrupt.

Viet Cong

• Communist-led army and guerrilla force in South Vietnam.
• Fought against the South Vietnamese government.
• Supported by North Vietnam.

Tet Offensive

• Launched in 1968 by National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces.
• A large-scale attack during the Vietnamese New Year (Tet).
• Though a military defeat for communism, had a profound impact on US public opinion

Pol Pot

• Leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
• Responsible for the deaths of approximately 2 million people in Cambodia through starvation, execution, and beatings during the 1970s.

Khmer Rouge

• Communist party in Cambodia.
• Imposed a reign of terror on Cambodian citizens.

Détente

• Easing of Cold War tensions between the US and Soviet Union.
• Examples include SALT I and SALT II.

Welfare State

• A government that assumes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens.
• Through programs like public health, housing, pensions, and unemployment compensation.

Mujahedin

• Muslim religious warriors or guerilla fighters.

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991.
• Improved relations with the West through liberalization efforts.
• Reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in Eastern Europe, ultimately losing power.
• Worked with Reagan to end the Cold War.

Glasnost & Perestroika

• Two reform movements in the Soviet Union.
• Glasnost provided opportunities for sharing new ideas.
• Perestroika aimed to give businesses more freedom for innovation and competition.

Ronald Reagan

• Two-term president.
• Reduced taxes, increased defense spending, and negotiated a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviets.
• Credited with accelerating the end of the Cold War.
• Exploited Soviet weaknesses.

Lech Walesa

• Polish politician.
• Leader of the Solidarity movement, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union.
• Led a pro-democratic effort that ended Communist rule in Poland in 1989.

Solidarity Movement

• Polish trade union and anti-authoritarian social movement.
• Used civil resistance to advance workers' rights and social change.

Vaclav Havel

• Czech dramatist and statesman.
• Plays opposed totalitarianism.
• Served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and president of the Czech Republic from 1993.

Nicolae Ceausescu

• Romania's longtime dictator.
• Refused to step down and was executed.

Superpowers

• The U.S. and Soviet Union after World War II.
• Were the two strongest countries in the world.